Vault-cover.



UNITED STATES Patented October 20, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. SHADE AND PAUL S. KNAPP, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

VAU LT-C'OVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,075, dated October 20, 1903.

Application filed June 13,1903. Serial No. 161,395. (No model.)-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that we, GEORGE W. SHADE and PAUL S. KNAPP, citizens of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have.

invented a new and useful Improvement in Vault-Covers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

' This invention relates to that class of vault covers or doors which are used to cover passages leading through sidewalks into cellars; and its object is to adapt vault-covers to recede from the sidewalk under the house in opening, to automatically raise guards beside the opening in the sidewalk by the act of opening the door and to close them beneath the door in closing the door, to provide a guard in front of the opening in the sidewalk, and to provide a lock for the door which can be operated from within the house only.

To this end our invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a vault-cover hereinafter morefully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanysection at line X of Fig. I.

ing drawings, in which 1 Figure I is a plan View of a vault-cover, showing the passage open according to our invention. Fig. II is a longitudinal vertical Fig. III is a rear end view of the same, the returning-weight and the house-wall being omitted. Fig. IV is a rear end view of certain details, showing the side guards closed. Fig. V is a perspective view of the principal portion of the looking device. Fig. VI is a fragmental View a showing the latch for the side guards.

Numeral 1 represents a portion of the Wall of the house; 2, a portion of the sidewalk in front of the house, and 3 the open passage over which the cover or door 4 rolls upon wheels 5, which travel upon rails 6.

8 represents linear bearings fixed to the cover for the axles 7 of the wheels to roll upon parallel with the rails 6. The bearings are provided with blocks 9 at the ends of the path of the axle to prevent the same from rolling off from its bearings, and if the wheel were to become slipped along the bearing out of place the axle would revolve against the adjacent lugs, as in a common bearing.

'10 and 11 are side guards, and 12 13 are respectively the shafts upon which these guards are fixed to oscillate in bearings 14, which are fastened to the sides 15 of the doorframe. 1

16 is a connecting-rod betweenthe crankarms 17 and 18 of the rock-shafts 12 and 13.

19 is an elbow-leverpivoted at 20, Fig. II,

to a cross-bar 21, whichis secured to the sides 15 below the path of the door. One arm of this lever 19 is slotted to receive the connecting-rod l6, and the other arm is slotted at its end to receive the operating-pin 22, which is fixed to the under side of the door. One of the fingers, 23, beside the slot in this arm is made shorter than the other finger, 24:. If the door were moved forward from the open position in which it is shown, the pin 22 would press against the finger 23 and carry it forward and the opposite arm downward, and with that the connecting-rod 16 would be carried downward. It may be seen in Fig. III that the cranks 18 and 17 are about at right angles to each other in radial positions,

so that the first efiect of the downward movement of the connecting-rod 16 is to carry down the crank 18 and start the guard 11 to closing; but as soon as the crank .18 passes below center it will begin to pull lengthwise upon the rod 16 and start the guard 10 to closing. Thus the guard 11 is closed down first and then the. guard 10 is closed on top of it, as shown in Fig. IV. When this is done, the pin 22 passes out of the slotand over finger 2-3 as the door rollsforward over the closed side guards. In opening the door the operation upon the guards is reversed. Whenthe door has opened enough to permit the guards to rise in front of it, the pin 22 the guard 10. After that begins to pass center it pulls lengthwise on rod 16 and draws crank 18 to begin opening guard 11. When crank 18 begins to approach the line of the connecting-rod, the lift of the latter will act directly to continue raising the crank 18. To fasten the side guards up, we provide a single hook 25, which is in the form of an elbowlever and is pivoted to the guard 11 to en-.

gage a hook-catch 26, which projects below theinner flange 27 of one of the sides 15. The weighted end 28 of the hook tends to press the hook upward into engagement with the catch 26, and at the same time it serves as a handle by which to operate the hook. This hook goes into engagement automatically by the act of raising the guards; but it must be unhooked by hand when it is desired to close the guards.

29 is a guard which is intended to be placed across the front end of the opening when the door is left open and the passage is not in use. This guard 29 is loosely hinged at 30 and is provided with a hook 31 to engage an eye 32 on the opposite guard 10 when in service, and an eye 33 in the same guard 11 is litted to receive and hold the hook end of the guard 29 when not in service to hold it up out of the way when the guards are put down.

To look the door when closed, we provide an L-shaped bolt 34, which is fixed upon a rod 35, that is journaled in bearings 36,which are fixed to one side 15 of the door-frame. The bolt is hung to swing through a hole in the side 15 into the path of a portion of the door, and its front end 38 is inclined to the line of travel of the door, so that the door in moving forward crowds the bolt out of the way.

39 is an operating-arm located at any desired point along the rod 35, preferably just within the line of the house, so that the operating-rod 40 may be extended up through the house-floor and be provided with a bandle 41 for operating the lock, the rod 40 being loosely connected with the arm 39. Pulling upon this handle raises the arm 39, rocks the shaft 35, and swings the bolt 34 out of line of the door, thus unlocking it. The rod 35 may be extended, if desired, up through higher stories of the house, and when set free the rod presses by gravity upon the arm 39 and tends to hold the bolt locked. An operator in the cellar may press the bolt back with his fingers at 38 and then open the door from below.

The rails 6 may be formed by turning up the loweredges of the sides 15, as in Fig. VI,

or they may be separate pieces with bars 42 interposed and all be riveted together to constitute the sides 15.

43 is a weight connected with the door by a rope or chain 44, passing over a pulley 45, which may be j ournaled in any suitable bearing 46, hung under the house-floor.

This vault-cover has the advantage of automatically raising and lowering side guards for its opening in the sidewalk at the right time and of storing them out of the way when they are not in service. In this vault-cover provision is also made for storing away the front guard when not in service; also for automatically locking both the door and the side guards when each is in service and yet requiring them to be unlocked by hand.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

1. In a vault-cover, a door fitted to reciprocate over and away from a passage and having an operating-pin depending from its 1111- derside; a pair of side guards hung each upon a shaft below the path of the door and at the sides of the passage; a crank upon each of the said shafts; a rod connecting the cranks; an elbow-lever pivotally hung upon a fixture beneath the path of the door; one arm of this lever being slotted to receive the said connecting-rod, and the other arm being slotted in at its end to be engaged by the aforesaid pin which depends from the door.

2. In a vault-cover, a door fitted to reciprocate over a passage througha sidewalk and beneath a house; a locking-bolt of L shape fixed upon a shaft which is journaled along the side of the door-frame, and passes through the wall into the cellar of the house; an operating-arm secured upon the shaft beneath the house; the said locking-bolt being adapted to project through the door-frame into the path of a portion of the door, and a handle for the said operating-arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WV. SHADE. PAUL S. KNAIP.

\Vitnesses:

H. R. FREED, J. M. Yorrrnus. 

